


ships in the night

by secretsarenotforfree



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Amazing Spider-Man (Movies - Webb)
Genre: F/M, cuties being shy, science nerds being sciencey and in love, slight canon divergence in the future, the second movie never happened
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-23 07:13:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10714743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secretsarenotforfree/pseuds/secretsarenotforfree
Summary: He loves her. She loves him. But it wasn't quick, and it wasn't easy, and it wasn't simple. Yet she smiles, and he smiles, and says "yeah" noncommittally and everything's finally falling into place for Peter for once. He's been waiting for this for what seems like forever and to be honest, it's just a little bit beautiful.





	1. in which there is noticing

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote this 7,000 years ago but it deserved a dust off and a re-exposure into the world - hopefully this time I will finish it! I always felt like Gwen and Peter merited a much happier ending, so it's only going to be canon to the end of TASM. Any comments will be a blessing <3\. Also lets pretend Peter's parents weren't found dead until a month or so after leaving Peter with Ben and May, 'kay?
> 
> Cross posted to fanfiction/./net.

_The whole falling in love with Gwen Stacy thing happened over a period of time._

He was a Parker-and Parker men mated for life-so it was only to be understood that falling for Gwen wasn't to be some short, quick affair. 'When you have to work for it, it's worth it' Uncle Ben used to say to him. And Uncle Ben was right.

Eight-year-old Peter Parker has just transferred to Midtown Science Elementary School and his parents were still just missing. Missing from his life, sure, but not the world of the living. He's wearing a grey long-sleeved shirt and ratty jeans and he bleeds into the pavement like a ghost, quiet and observing. His eyes are wide and drink in everything in sight like an empty pitcher, willing and innocent. The mandatory introduction takes place in the bustling third-grade homeroom, and Peter stays quiet as Mrs. Jonson puts a hand on his shoulder.

"Class? This is Peter Parker. He just transferred from a school upstate-Peter is there anything you'd like to tell the class about yourself?"

A roomful of students, half paying attention and the other half whispering and attempting to write notes and examining what a booger looks like on a pencil, somewhat focus their eyes on him and something in Peter seizes his heart with a kind of terror that won't let him say a word. A muttered joke at his expense escapes into the confines of the classroom and a ripple of quiet but cruel laughter wafts through the room. Peter looks up at the teacher with big, deer-in-headlights eyes, and she pats him on his shoulders and sends him to an available seat with a murmured "don't worry about it, Peter".

Peter notices a few people in the classroom that day on his way to his desk. A smirking, broadly set blonde boy with a glint in his eye that gives Peter a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. An animated redhead the center of a group of giggling girls, eyes shining and already attempting the patented hair-flip. A blonde girl with her head facing down at her desk and a pen scribbling across her sheet, a headband holding back her soft curls. The shock that someone was doing something as studious as _homework_ in the beginning of homeroom was enough to make Peter stop and pause just a second too long for anyone to consider it simple curiosity. It was long enough for the blonde boy to yell "Whatcha lookin' at, Parker?" and to cause a big enough commotion for the girl to look up. Bright, intelligent grey-green eyes stare at him for a moment, make a note of him, and then flick back down to her sheet. Feeling dismissed, face burning like fire, Peter hurriedly shuffled to his desk and sat down, burying his face in his arms.

 _That was something._ One side of his brain tells him.

 _Something you should probably never do again_ the other half advises him, but he doesn't listen. Peter slouches in his seat and pulls out a pencil case but his eyes flick to the back of the girls head and briefly follow the progress of her arm across the desk. He can't explain why but he can't do it-can't pretend that the girl is anything less that out of the ordinary. And he'll never be able to simply ignore the enigma that was Gwen Stacy. They didn't learn each others names until a while afterwards, but that didn't make a difference. Two people had bumped into each other that were fated to be irrevocably interwoven and though neither one knew it, the ball had been set in motion.

/

Eleven year old Gwen Stacy pays no heed to the rumors that boys will, in fact, fling boogers on you.

She knows enough about herself and the way she wants to be that she considers herself beyond such immature things. She spends her days at the base of a tree far enough away from the playground that she can think straight and settles in with a book, burying her nose in it's pages. She considers it a suitable and much more enjoyable way to have fun then scrambling around on a metal structure. Gwen might've been considered a little weird, sure, but she was too pretty to be ostracized by her female counterparts. The occasional times she did convene with the girls in her class she was brilliant and charismatic, so they let her be when she wished.

However, Gwen knew enough about the opposite sex to studiously avoid them unless impossible, and there was only one boy in the entire fifth grade she thought she could have a conversation with. Quiet, lonely outcast Peter Parker, with his ever present ability to sink into the shadows and who would rather doodle in his notebook than do much frolicking in the mulch. He was the one person she deemed to be her equivalent in their entire class, except for one thing. Peter's preference of being alone wasn't accommodated and was frequently addressed by Eugene and his brainless posse of bullies. She'd be lying if she said she didn't wince every time she saw him without the wisp of a boy that was Peter's shadow: Harry Osborn.

He was quiet, and not very forthcoming, so it had taken them a few years to hear that Peter's parents passed. She had two little brothers at home now, one with a shock of blonde hair and the ability to tag around behind her, the other barely a Stacy with a mischievous glimmer in his eyes. Her father had taught her to stand up for the little guys, and that was what she was going to do. Even though with Peter's recent growth spurt, Gwen couldn't justify calling him a 'little' guy.

Wrapping her hands around her much loved copy of _20,000 Leagues Under the Sea_ , Gwen pushes herself off of the ground, black flats stomping on the ground with all the annoyance a Stacy female could drum up (and to hear her father tell it, it was a lot). Her half ponytail of straight cornsilk hair swinging righteously down her back as her grey cardigan fluttered in the wind. Pushing herself through the relatively small crowd of pre-teens, Gwen raises her book and shouts " _Eugene!"_

Eugene doesn't acknowledge her, but the tips of his ears turn red as he continues yelling at Peter and Gwen remembers everyone calls him Flash now. Growling and rolling her eyes, Gwen thunders forward and smacks her book down on Eug- _FLASH's_ head with all her might, and yells his name again. _"EUGENE THOMPSON!"_

The entire playground silences, and even both of the teacher monitors look up from their conversation (because of course budgets cuts were of much more importance than a petty bullying issue on the playground) and heads swivel and turn because the girls can't understand _why would we ever stand up for a boy?_ And the boys can't understand _did a someone just hit Flash with a BOOK?_ Gwen sort of smirks to herself and she folds her arms over her chest and waits patiently for the blonde boy to turn around. He does, of course, mouth gaping open and eyebrows furrowed in confusion and his stiff hair is kind of bent and he's taller than her so there's a bit of towering going on-but Gwen simply raises a brow with the full force of what her father calls The-Stacy-Women-Level-Of-Annoyance-Factor and says coolly "Honestly, Eugene. Isn't there anything _better_ you could _possibly conceive_ that you could do with your vocal chords?"

Flash's a little confused because what he doesn't know is Gwen's already read next years textbooks and is very aware of the means by which he is using to berate Peter's confidence but the bell rings and the crowd disperses, but the story remains. Peter, on the other hand, has his big brown eyes stretched as big as anything and his mouth is making fishy up and down motions so Gwen just spares him one attentive, grey-green cold flash of a stare and spins decidedly on her heel, walking purposefully up the stairs to the school with such an untouchable air that unless you were there you couldn't _begin_ to imagine she'd just smacked Flash _Thompson_ of all people on the head with a literary classic. Soon just Peter's left to gaze at the doors, looking quite a bit like he's been struck with a very, _very_ thoughtmuddling stroke of lightning.

Harry Osborn, sulking because one too many outbursts in class forced him to stay in for recess, shuffles out to collect him and he's too grumpy about his parent's impending divorce to really look at Peter until he realizes not even a murmur has made its way out of his friends mouth.

"What _happened?"_ Harry demands, clear blue eyes curious and confused, but Peter is only able to shake his head. Even he doesn't really get what just happened.

It doesn't matter that Harry doesn't get an answer, though, because the tale spreads through the school like wildfire and it's on most of the upper grades lips as they spill out of the building to get onto the buses. For once Peter is very glad that Aunt May walks him home from school every day, and doesn't receive the full brunt of Gwen's actions until the day after that. Taunts of Gwen being his _girrllffrriieenndd_ might roll off the pretty blonde girl because she knows they have no truth, but to Peter it just adds to the load on his shoulders.

When she turns her head to smile at him in class the next day, though, he gives a little tilt of his head and smiles back. Maybe smacking people with books wasn't so bad after all.

 


	2. in which there is contact, and puberty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it sad that I sat down and paused the movie just to get their exact words from the movie??? Maybe a little. *sighs*

Thirteen year old Peter Parker is a little more confident in himself, no longer a part of the background, a separate but alienated entity in the throng of middle schoolers.

Still sporting the same worn Nike's (a few sizes bigger) and raggedy jeans, his hair is a bit more wild and his eyes a bit more dark, _missing_ taking on a different meaning than it had four years before. He's got a disposable camera stuffed in the pocket of his hoodie and is starting to shift inside his own skin, uncomfortable in the changes his body is going through. This is Harry Osborn's last year of school with him before he's being shipped off to private school and they make the most of it as only thirteen years olds can, playing video games at Harry's house and eating their fill of home cooked meals at Peter's.

Their sitting together under a tree at recess when Harry decides that if he's going to seriously ask Peter, he might as well do it now. He has nothing much else to lose and he isn't going to accept a roundabout turn of phrase for an answer now. "So, Pete. Whats the story between you two?" Peter jerks his head around to stare at the skinnier boy, eyes confused.

"The story?" his hands wander to his hoodie pocket and start to pick with the edges of the cardboard covering of the disposable camera, hair hiding his eyes. Peter knows what Harry's going to ask because he's been asking it at different points all throughout their years of friendship and Peter has (not so successfully) avoided answering.

"With Gwen." Harry's bright blue eyes gave him a _c'mon man_ look and Peter leans back, chewing on his lip. "You two have had the strangest," Harry gives a weird, off kilter laugh " _thing_ for as long as I can remember. You remember that time she hit Flash on the back of the head for you?" The heir to the Oscorp fortune chuckles a bit more easily this time as he nudges his best friend with a shoulder. "Classic."

Peter gnaws on his bottom lip a bit more and his gaze instinctively shoots across the expanse of grass to a girl discussing the finer points of scheduling with a much more bored Mary Jane. The redhead is painting her nails and nodding noncommittally to the blonde's statements, and Peter finds himself noticing something more about her than his frequent glances at her over the years have seemed to garner. Gwen no longer wears her hair in strict pigtails and a side French braid decorates the golden strands even now, a thin black headband judging the difference between her sweeping bangs and her interwoven locks. A long sleeved shirt, dark purple and gentle in its simplicity, is tucked into a high waisted denim skirt, Ugg boots brushing against her shins. His face softens as the quick contemplation of her features and Peter gives a shake of his head, shrugging up one shoulder to scuff the unruly hair near his ears.

"I dunno," Peter says lowly, fiddling with the cheap plastic knobs on the camera. "I just know that-when she looks at me, I'm always looking back. And that's about it, I guess, because I dunno." He gives his best friend a crooked half smile. "I dunno, Harry. I really don't. It's just Gwen. Okay?"

Harry gave a huff that clearly told Peter _yeah right_ but it was the closest Harry had gotten to a real answer that he decided to let it go. He digs a stick into the grass beside him and promptly switches to strictly not worrying about whether or not his father was going to kill him for his grades this semester and Harry frowns darkly, lost in his own realm of anger.

As for Peter, he rubbed his thumb along the edges of the camera again and thinks on the fact that no matter _what_ he tells Harry some part of him knows, it just _knows_ that for as long as he can remember, ever since he lingered too long by her desk he and Gwen Stacy have been inexplicably connected and that's enough of an explanation for him.

 

/

 

Fifteen year old Gwen Stacy is still, miraculously, good friends with Mary Jane and has evolved way past the cootie stage of boys.

She doesn't really know what their purpose is, of course, and listens with a half an ear whenever Mary Jane gushes about how tall and utterly _dreamy_ Flash Thompson's gotten and busies herself with getting her biology homework done. Gwen's the happy big sister of three boys now, James, Phil, and Simon, and the younger two already shows signs of being annoying. She doesn't mind it, though; Gwen loves feeling needed when they throw themselves into her legs when she gets home and she loves cuddling them up in her lap, their little milk-sweet breathing peppering the story Captain Stacy reads them every night.

It's not until one day in biology lab when Gwen understands exactly what's prompting her friend to spend all her time reading airy magazines and trying out new styles of clothing. She's examining the guts of her frog and deducing which parts are which when someone clears his throat to get her attention.

"Gwen?"

She jumps and almost drops the frog esophagus she was holding up to the light but schools herself easily, flicking her head in an attempt to keep her bangs out of her eyes. When Gwen finally does collect herself, her grey-green eyes widen just that little bit more because _oh my gosh_ Peter PARKER, the infamous, the in-ignorable, the recipient of the repercussions of her heroic book smack, is shifting awkwardly on his feet in front of her, a wry grin on his face.

Gwen would be lying if she hadn't shot the odd glance at him over the years, but their class is in fact large and he is in fact a boy, a species she hasn't spent that much time paying attention to, so when she lays her eyes on Peter her cheeks color the teeniest bit.

 _Wow._ Puberty and Peter were evidently a highly successful equation.

He's looming over her a bit now, his frame lanky and unassuming, still thin muscles moving with uncertainty, the roughhoused chocolate locks of his hair a frothy mess that makes her fingers itch to touch. Peter shifts on his feet and tries again for her attention, his getting deeper (but still breaking, a fact which Gwen cannot help but find adorable) voice calling her name uncertainly. "Uh, Gwen? Sarah told me she couldn't be your lab partner today cuz, uh," Peter winced. "She threw up when she, uh, heard about the dissection. Mr. Cole," he nudged a head in the general direction of their wildly gesturing teacher "Told me to uh, pair with you."

Gwen's sure she's looking like a deer in headlights at this point, but she can't fathom why thoughts such as _oh God does my hair look okay_ and _crap, I KNEW I shouldn't have worn the black skirt today_ are skittering through her mind until Peter waves a hand in front of her face and finally, gently flicks her on the forehead. "Gwen, you there?" 

A flurry of warmth spreads out and seems to seep into her body at his touch and Gwen's mind finally collects the dots because _ohhhh this is what Mary Jane means_ and _of course-this is what puberty feels like._ She should feel more startled at this abrupt method of her coming-of-age but the fact is that somewhere deep in her heart something had accepted the fact that Peter was kind of special. Gwen didn't quite know what was going on under the hood of the brunette boy standing before her, and if there's one thing a scientist loves, it's an equation they can't quite understand.

Not that she's sure she'll ever understand Peter.

And for once, that fact is pretty okay. Almost better than okay, even. If better than okay was a thing. Gwen thinks she'll like him a little less if she figures out how he ticks because of all of the kinds of people she's categorized before, Peter's never really been one fit to be shoved into a mold.

So Gwen smiles a little more brilliantly than she would've before, and asks him, in a perfectly normal voice "Okay. Did you bring your dissection kit?" because it's what she would've asked anyone else and Peter deserves no less. What Peter gets that others dont, however, is a tentative lilt of the voice that comes at the end of her question and a sparkle in her eye, and the fact that the only Stacy female just may be crushing on him

Just maybe.

 

/

 

Seventeen year old Peter Parker is used to being a punching bag but is way past done taking it standing up, and has an arsenal of quick tongued retorts to shoot at Flash Thompson and his posse of dweebs as Peter labels them. He saves up enough money to finally buy a real, legitimate camera, and the time he doesn't spend making up little gadgets or practicing tricks on his skateboard goes to finding new angles and figuring out the right lens of filter to put his pictures into.

Seventeen year old Gwen Stacy is used to being the science nerd but is way past done being under a label, and has an arsenal of somewhat materialistic friends and a reluctant enjoyment for shopping to shoot as an outward warning to all to try to label them thereof. She spends more time with her homework than her friends, and that's a fact that hasn't changed, but the amount of time she spends absently reading a book during lunch is balanced out with the quick, wistful glances she shoots at one Peter Parker.

They take turns, unconsciously, when it comes to glancing at each other.

And when Peter's rolling slowly on his back on the pavement, arms clutching his stomach and hoarsely, idiotically reminding Flash that he's "still not gonna take the picture" Gwen doesn't hesitate to push her way through the crowd and step over Peter's unpredictable limbs, clutching her books to her chest and leveling Flash with a familiar glare.

Everyone who's consistently gone to school with the three of them have half formed memories of Jules Verne colliding with the back of a bullies head, but Peter's eyes flicker as they recognize the signs of a pissed off Gwen Stacy.

"Flash!" she commands, ponytail swinging with the burden of sass and the knowledge of being right. "Are we still on for my house today? Three thirty?" Gwen sucks in a breath between her teeth and lips and gives an almost imperceptible shake of the head "Because last time, I was very disappointed."

Flash makes to go towards Peter again and Gwen follows his movements fluidly, her look of disappointment evolving into displeasure in an instant. "No; how about we go to _class,_ Flash. Huh? How about that?"

The bell rings just as it did on that playground six years ago and the crowd disperses much the same way, but this time Peter Parker is far from a victim and Gwen Stacy is far from a savior. Peter pulls his body up to rest on one hand and his gaze connects with Gwen's, their conversation swift but understood. Gwen's says _I'm sorry about him_ like Flash is her responsibility and Peter's says _uh, uhm, it's okay?_ and she's walking swiftly away and he's reaching for his camera and things almost fall back into they were before.

Except this time Gwen turns back in class with a furrowed brow and the words "That was great, what you did out there." drop from her lips. Peter's a little shell shocked because this is _Gwen_ and their little conversations have always, always been _unspoken_ before, but she trips into his thoughts again she keeps talking. "It was stupid..." her eyes squint but a smile plays on her lips. "But it was great." She turns around and Peter feels a little relieved but also a little dissapointed but that ponytail whips in the air and her startling grey-green eyes are looking at him again.

"You really should get that checked out" and Peter's brow furrows in return because lets be honest the boy is con _fused_ and when she says "have you been to the nurse? You might have a concussion." He manages to reply with a head nod and an unworded _uh, yeah, yeah_ and then Gwen gifts him with an unsure smile and says, almost murmurs "Whats your name?"

This is a stupid question because they've known each others names since _third freaking grade hello_ and Peter puts this into English with the eloquently worded "You don't know my name?"

Gwen gives a hoarse laugh, "Oh I know your name. I just want to know if you know your name."

His mouth twitches into a smile because this Gwen/Peter banter is something he hasn't really been faced with in a few years so he responds "Peter." Gwen gives him that _and?_ look and Peter gives a chuckle and says "Peter Parker."

Gwen smiles and almost turns away but Peter decides to play along and says "You're Gwen, right?" and she grins even wider and says "Gwen Stacy."

And she smiles and he smiles and says "yeah" noncommittally and everything's finally falling into place for Peter for once and he's been waiting for this for what seems like forever and to be honest it's just a little bit beautiful.


	3. in which there is awkward conversations

After that fantastic breakthrough in English class a couple days ago, Peter feels like a monumentally, absolutely _colossally_ stupid person when he can't open his mouth and say a few words when she seeks him out at lunch.

Peter completely understood that them talking about his incredibly embarrassing beat down had meant a little _something_ , a progression forward in whatever kind of relationship they even _had_ , but when he'd propped up his slim sneakers on the set of stairs and dug into a PB and J sandwich on the west stairwell, he never expected to hear the familiar thunk-and-clack of Gwen's trademark boots in the empty hallways. He freezes for a moment, sandwich half out of his mouth, fathers folder sticking out of his backpack, notebook on _full freaking display_ for anyone to realize that he probably didn't have the clearance (or any clearance at all) to be looking at something that seemed awfully official. The boy manages to scramble into action, flipping to a new page in his marble notebook and shoving the folder into the depths of the steady, dirty blue backpack he's been carrying for as long as he can remember.

When Gwen pokes her head around the corner, a navy ribbon headband in her curly blonde hair, her startling grey green eyes search until they catch on his, sparking a smile onto her face. The rest of her body follows her head and she walks sedately over to him, holding her lunch behind her back. "Mind if I sit?" she asks with a somewhat cheeky grin, and Peter's mouth quirks in response to hers, moving his legs and gesturing the stairs.

"Last, um, last I knew they were kinda public property I think," he confesses, relieved his mouth is working for once. "I don't know you could be, you know, violating some kind of law or something."

Gwen rolls her eyes and climbs a few steps until she plops her butt down on the step right above the one he's sitting down, smoothing the flares of her dark red skirt and adjusting the collar of her fleecy cream sleeveless turtleneck. "My dads a police officer nerdboy; I'm pretty sure I know where it's illegal to sit."

Peter held up his hands in the universal _'hey, don't look at me, I'm not the one to blame here'_   signal even though he completely is the one to blame for saying it's illegal to sit on public property oh God his brains turning to mush - but he gives her a side grin, his grip on his sandwich adjusting unconsciously. "Alright, alright! Okay! I was just trying to save you from committing a capitol felony, don't shoot the messenger."

The blonde scoffs and sets about peeling her orange methodically, and their conversation quickly evolves from the pros and cons of the disgustingness that is public benches to whether or not Newton could've made more progress when it came to gravity if a couple more apples had fallen on his head. When the bell rang, it rang too soon and the approaching sound of the high school masses halted their conversation and prompted their setting about the cleaning their area. Peter and Gwen still stand there a little awkwardly even when their fellow students flood in, but a dip of Gwen's head and an easy "Bye" with a smile is responded to with an awkward spasmic nod of Peters with a two finger salute.

They both leave a little happier than they'd been met, but the fleeting happiness soon fades after Peter gets home. He scrounges up money he'd been saving for a new lens and uses it to buy Dr. Connors book on biogenetics, and he's occupied with something more than pretty blonde hair and a winning smile for more than a few hours to come.

 

/

 

Gwen has no idea whats happening when he shows up out of the blue at work and is frankly mad at herself for worrying a little bit more about whether or not he'd get caught than whether or not the rest of the tour guide was smart enough to even score a job here.

When Doctor Connors asks who he is, she can't keep herself from saying "He's one of Midtown Science's best and brightest." When Doctor Connors responds to this comment Gwen also can't resist adding "He's second in his class." Because she likes Peter, and he deserves some recognition. Even if it's from a somewhat smitten fellow student.

Peter's eyes light with a slight glimmer and when he says "Second?" she feels absolutely no remorse in uttering "Yeah." His eyes are so warm and brown Gwen swears Ghiradelli was involved in picking the exact shade. 

"Are you sure about that?" he says with a sort of smirk on his roguish face and she feels a grin creep onto her own. Her brilliantly worded response is "I'm pretty sure."

Peter smiles as he watches her. Gwen feels a similar one appear on her own, but then Doctor Connor leaves and she decides to fire up the 'Tree of Life' hologram to occupy the legitimate interns while she addresses the Peter problem.

He's trying to walk away without him seeing her but Gwen's smart, and Gwen's sassy, so her lip curls up in a crooked smirk and her airy but amused "Hi" stops him in his tracks. Peter halts immediately, spinning on his heel to face her, hands shoved deep in his front pockets, eyes bright but body language screaming sheepishness.

Gwen's "What're you going here, Rodrigo?" snarky question distracts him for a moment because the question _who is Rodrigo again?_ skips through his mind and his fingers of their own accord sneak up to the badge he clipped to his jacket pocket and he looks down and _ohhh_.

"Oh Yeah." Peter manages to say articulately, upping the embarassment to another level. Gwen can't help but smile at him. Seriously, sometimes Peter is too adorable for words.

"What're you doing here?"

"I work here." She tilts back her head, part in amusement and part because she still has to keep an eye on the intern group but Peter already realizes how stupid the statement was and desperately tries to retract it, smiling dopily. "I don't work here. I was gonna say that I work here, but it seems that you in fact do work here, so you know that I don't in fact work here."

Gwen lets his level of control of the English language go because honestly, Peter's never been the one to make speeches or be confident in every word that's come out of his mouth and responds with a simple but accusatory "Are you following me?"

"No I'm not following you, I'm not following you, I had no idea you worked here-"

"Then why would you be here?"

"I snuck in because I-I, uh," Peter licks his lip absently and Gwen wills herself not to pay attention to it "I love science."

"You love, science." Gwen is has as much doubt concerning the truth of that statement as any normal person would and has half a mind to tell him off on it-

"I'm passionate about it."

"So you snuck in-" but she hears the hologram flick off behind her and shoots her head around to take a glance at them before swinging back to Peter. "I have to lead this tour group."

"I know-"

"So I'm going to ask you more about this later," Gwen takes a step back towards the group, "Do not get me in trouble." Peter promises he won't and Gwen almost believes him but she knows Peters got a bit of a troublemaker instinct and just hopes he won't get carried out of the building like poor Rodrigo was. She doesn't think much of the statement as she leads the tour to the bioreactor room but _maybe_ if Gwen had paid more attention to the fact that one lanky brunette was not skulking at the back of the tour group, _maybe_ if she remembered that Peter had a near picture perfect memory, he might've never found that room-

But later she sees him walking in the hallway distinctly _not_ being a part of her group, heading towards the elevators, the escalator, and the exit and accosts him immediately.

Peters face is less sheepish and more guilty this time, but his unrepentant smile and brief beginning of taking a breath for an explanation is complete BS; let's be honest Gwen's always been able to see through him.

"All right, gimme the badge. Give it to me." Gwen demands, her telltale no nonsense tone prompting Peter to reluctantly hand it over. She turns to go back to the group and hears him cry out briefly and turns back to shoot a glance at him, but his hand is on the back of his head and he's already turning away so she dismisses the thought and goes back to work with a little smile on her face.

She couldn't possibly have realized that the world has just changed in front of her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know everyone writes about the bug biting incident but I didn't feel it super necessary for this fic. It's got both Peter and Gwen's perspective but seeing as how not as many people write about Gwen's I chose to showcase more of her persepective. As always, comments welcomed!


	4. in which there is a sort of date but a definite broken heart

The next time Peter has an honest to God real conversation with Gwen Uncle Ben calls himself his probation officer and told her that she was on his _computer_ and the embarrassment is almost as tangible as the awkwardness in the air between them.

She's biting her lip and switching from toe to heel on the foot of one of her boots by the time he turns to her, and he hurriedly tries to remedy the situation. "That-that's my Uncle. He's a, um, he's a pathological liar and he thought you were, someone else."

Gwen lets out a disappointed noise. "Oh, man. You don't have me on your computer?"

They're easing into the easy, familiar, Gwen/Peter banter faster this time than the last and he's not theoretically breaking into her workplace and she isn't intruding in on his lunchtime but Peter still has the absolute _Peterness_ to get flustered and mess up his words as he tries to explain away the whole screen saver issue. His arms flap around and make him look a little like a widely grinning skinny penguin. "Well yeah, I mean, I took a photo of the debate team and you're the debate team so-"

"Right."

"So. He must've seen," he looks over her shoulder for a moment, praying for some alien or even a teacher to drag him away from this absolute nosedive he's going into because _God how creepy is it that I have her picture on my screen I am such a colossal idiot shit_  "-and I'm, I was touching up stuff." Peters hand makes a vaguely writing motion in the air and she's nodding her head comically, a cheeky grin on her face, repeating his phrase and he just looks down and grins like an idiot and tries to cut her off—"Come on!" His voice dissolves into breathy chuckling and he tries again "I was…I was, I'm not going to answer that!"

Its easy and simple between them again and Gwen asks him with a side look and a full blown smile on her face if he got expelled and he explains that he only got community service but then _oh God_ the awkwardness jumps on them out of nowhere because Gwen has no idea what else to ask him and makes a turn but then his voice brings her back and then—

"So do you want to a….um—"

Peter's got Gwen's full attention now and any semblance of nonchalance and normality falls from her face and her grey green eyes are wide and attentive because _is Peter trying to out?!_   She falls into Peter Parker syndrome with a beautifully phrased "Wanna what?" teetering on her feet as they twist underneath her in an attempt to keep her calm.

Her question prompts more vague hand motions and a quick twist of the frothy brunette mess that Peter calls hair and he's stumbling over his words once more because he's wanted to do this for who knows how long now and he's screwing it up so royally and he wishes his mouth would cooperate more—"I don't know. Just a…um…I don't know, we could, I don't know, we could a…" his voice trails but surges again "Or we could do something else, or, we could—"

"Yeah." Gwen cuts him off easily because she _thinks_ she just heard him ask her out but she knows the answer is always going to be friggin' yes, emphasis on the friggin' probably even _fucking_ , will _always_ be yes when it comes to him—

His "Yeah?" bespoke of the fact that maybe he still hadn't even processed what he's just done and she follows up her statement with a Gwen eyebrow-raise.

"Yeah, either one."

It doesn't seem to bother either of them that neither of the 'eithers' had an actual conceptual plan and technically everything is theoretical but Peter and Gwen are scientists and theory is something they are very familiar with.

"Really?"

"Sure."

"Okay. All right, good, sounds good."

"Cool."

"Okay." There's a disbelieving grin written all across his phenomenal face and his eyes are shining and crinkling at the edges and if one can believe it so are hers and they make the most inarticulate couple anyone's ever witnessed if their ever was one and brown meet grey-green and all is right in the world but then—

_Oh crap. Doctor Connors._

"Oh—but—I can't right now. I can't right now. I'm so busy—"

"Yeah, me too." "

"-right now—"

"Ugh." Gwen makes a displeased groan and the awkwardness between them has been broken and he's lifting up the backs of his heels and pressing them on the floor at different angles and she's spinning the binder between her fingers and steps back and forward, unsure on her feet because _holy holy holy shit_  their mutual attraction to each other has finally been acknowledged. They both let out happy, relieved sighs because to be honest each thought the affection hadn't been returned.

"But maybe, a," Peter tries again, smiling too wide for comprehensible thought again

"Yeah you know,"

"Some other,"

"Time." Gwen finished easily, his happiness mirrored on her face. "All right."

Peter lets out a pleased surprise filled laugh from back in his throat "All right." He repeats after her, rolling his hands absently and she's walking away with a soft little "Bye." He can't stop himself from smiling dopily after her.

He's rewarded when halfway down the hall, Gwen turns to look at him to make sure that that did in fact just happen and no she's not dreaming and she's got a secret smile on her face that positively lights up Peter's insides. He tilts his head back and spins on his heel, and then dissolves into complete un-Peter Parker-like happiness that manifests itself in the most unmanly skipping the world has ever seen.

To be honest, Peter doesn't really care, and when he's trying out the tricks of his new, radioactive spider fueled trade in the abandoned construction warehouse he could swear his heart was flying right along with his skateboard.

 

/

 

There's no awkward laughter or reciprocated smiles but there is disbelief the next time Gwen lays eyes on him again.

Sure, she stalked and thusly found his tumblr when she'd gotten home that night ( _really, Peter? Connecting weblinks to your facebook that you haven't touched in since you made it wasn't the smartest choice you could've made. And who names their url photographyistooasport?)_ but he'd been missing from school for half a week and when she called him he hadn't answered. Gwen didn't think she had purchase or reason to be worried as it was, but they had a connection and through that connection she knew something was seriously wrong.

Something cold wrapped its way around her heart when their English teacher sat down their homeroom class and told them all that Peter's uncle had passed away. Even Flash stopped joking with his buddies at the news, and Gwen could hear nothing but the beating of her heart for a moment. _Oh my God, Peter_ she thought miserably. She could never imagine what he was going through right now. She stayed after class to ask Mrs. Ritter about the details but when she heard the collective gasp from the hallway, something in her knew whatever was happening out there had to do with Peter and thus, meant she had to be there too.

Gwen's heart thumped almost through her chest as she rushed through the halls to where she heard the commotion was, just barely hearing the end of Flash's short speech. "I get it. I'm sorry."

She watches, her face saddened, as Peter slowly lowers Flash to the ground and slams his locker door shut, face shadowed, keeping his eyes on the ground. Gwen walks hesitantly up to him, her soft "Peter." More of a call to look up and tell her what was wrong than to get her attention. His gaze flickers up to meet hers and her heart wrenches just that little bit because his eyes are _broken_ and Gwen takes in the ruggedness of the look on his face, his nose rubbed red from crying, stance standoffish and reserved, and simply cannot help herself. She steps forward and wraps her arms around him, pressing her lips into his neck right above the collar of his jacket, feeling him lean into her for a split second, that split second sending her words he could never say out loud.

She gets it, as she's always gotten him, and so Gwen lets Peter go, lets him push through the halls with his shoulders and fix his gaze to the ground, heart hurting for his loss.

Gwen can't imagine how anyone lives through that kind of pain.

She didn't think she'd ever have to. At least not for a while.

Gwen was wrong.

But she wouldn't know that for some time.


	5. in which they're back on track...sort of

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I worry a lot about the little scenes I put in not fitting the narrative of the movie, so feel free to tell me if the flow seems off. Hope you enjoy!

A few weeks afterwards, when Peter started to remember to care about the people around him that weren't Aunt May, he pulls on a dark grey sweatshirt, sticks his legs in fresh boxers and jeans, and is pulling on his Nike's when something hits him hard.

With all the losing of Uncle Ben and the hunting of the murderer and the becoming of some costumed crime-fighter who he still couldn't figure out a name for yet-he'd forgotten about one crucial thing.

_Oh my God. How did I forget GWEN?_

Peter makes it his mission to make up for it at school and presses the point by actively seeking out the blonde girl, following her into the library at lunch and stepping up behind her to get a book she couldn't reach. Even though she was only about four inches shorter than him Peter had arms like separate giraffes that seemed to go on forever.

She turned in surprise, trapped between his body and the bookshelf, but a smile lights on her face. Peter grins down in response to that, taking in the high bun her hair is in and reaching out a finger to touch the bow on the shoulder of her long sleeved white shirt.

"Hi." Gwen smiles, eyes shining. There's worry lurking in the grey green depths for him, for what he went through, and is still going through, but he ignores it. He wasn't here for comfort.

"Hey." Peter responds, lips quirking. "I'm sorry about, about before and all, you know." His fingers go up and Gwen can't stop the giggle that breaks through her lips because she can tell that the Peter Parker Sign Language Show is about to start. "It's just my uncle, you know, and stuff happened, and life got in the way, but." Peter smiles sheepishly. "We can still do either of those things, one of these days, you know."

"Really?" Gwen's question may sound like one of surprise but the glint in her eyes tells him otherwise and he releases a chuckle and leans back to the other shelf.

"Well yeah. Yeah, if you like."

"I'd like." Gwen reiterates, giving a mock serious nod. "But if _you_ don't mind—" she plucks the book out of his grasp where he'd been absently flipping the pages between his fingers. "I've got Home Economics in five minutes."

She walks away with an untouchable air that Peter has come to sort of adore and when she turns back and shoots him a smile and a look over her shoulder Peter's stomach comes a little out of its doldrums and flops around a bit, somewhat happily, before he realizes something.

He still doesn't know what either one _is._

* * *

Gwen doesn't know what possessed her to hide behind a bunch of emo-geeks and wait for Peter to head way from his locker but the fact is that she did, and he said yes.

Well kind of. This is Peter she's talking about, and Peter can never manage to just say _yes._

Nevertheless she's bouncing a bit to catch up with him and his mind is obviously on other things and there's a big, blooming, grey and purple bruise on his cheekbones but he manages to take out his earbuds and notice her.

"Hey." He mutters, pulling down his hood. The brown haired boy looks happy to see her, but distracted. A storm brews in Peter's eyes.

"Hi."

"Hows it going?"

"Where're you headed?"

His fingers goes out and Gwen bites her lip at it because to be honest now she's started to look _forward_ to the way Peter seems to like to illustrate things with his hands and says "Uh, Monday. B track."

"Oh." She looks down for a second as they walk down the hallway, clutching her binder to her chest, pen tapping on the books rhythmically, mind double checking her facts. "It's Thursday."

"Thursday?" he stops in the hallway and turns to face her and Gwen can tell he's honestly surprised.

"What happened to y-your eye?"

"What?"

"Your eye, it looks bruised—"

"Ohhh yeah yeah yeah no, I dunno, maybe I got a rash or—"

Gwen dips her head to see it better because Peter's trying to turn that side of his face away from her as if it'll dissuade her worry for some reason so she brings up her default source of all things healing—"It's pretty bad, have you gone to the nurse?"

"Mhm." Peter's nodding his head like it justifies the lie somehow and Gwen knows he's lying but respects his privacy and keeps her mouth shut about it anyway.

"Do you like branzino?" Gwen inwardly doubting herself like anything because honestly, she has a _little_ better control of the English language than Peter and just asking someone a question like that has got to be the stupidest thing to come out with and complete off topic. He kind of stands there and twists his lip and Gwen's struck by the fact that _and just my luck, he's never heard of branzino before_ so she tries to rectify her mistake. "Like a fish?"

"Mhm? No, I know, I know," he gives a little laugh at the end but doesn't realize Gwen isn't done talking yet.

"W-weell, i-if you want," Gwen whips out a piece of paper and starts scribbling her address down, hating herself for stumbling over her words, finishing the words and holding out the paper to him "you can come to this address at, at a eight o'clock tonight? My, ah, my mom's making branzino." Her eyes widen when she realizes what she forgot to say-"Oh, I forgot to say, um, it's Apartment 2016, I didn't—I didn't write that part down—" her head is down and she's backing away and kicking herself internally because that was the _worst_ possibly ever worded invitation to come visit her family ever. Gwen gives a little awkward, unsure laugh at the end of her little monologue.

Peter realizes how uncomfortable it must be for her and is also mad at himself for not being the one to make the first move about it so he says "I'll remember it." It's in a firm voice, but it's before she's out of earshot and she feels ten million times better already.

Gwen walks away feeling really flustered and a little mad about the effect that Peter always seems to have on her but she's comforted by the fact that he's a little stupid around her too.

All that was left to do was cross her fingers and hope her family liked him.

And her dad didn't decide to do something crazy like kill him.

* * *

Peter thinks that saying he climbed up the fire escape up the side of a building for twenty stories is the most pathetic cover story he's ever let fall from his mouth but he's flustered and a little desperate and just glad she doesn't question any further.

When he webslings to her fire escape he plucks nervously at his bottom lip and taps at the door, eyes hopeful, just enjoying the way Gwen looks studying on her bed. Peter hesitantly raps on the her window pane with the back of his knuckles and watches with a sheepish smile on his face as she looks up and notices him, her face lighting up as she scrambles off the bed and to the window, struggling a bit to get it up and receiving a thimbleful of Peter's newly acquired strength to help her out with it.

"Hi!" Gwen's hello prompts a silly, stupid smile on Peter's face that somehow manages to stay on at her next and very obvious question. "How did you get out there?"

"The fire escape." He puts one hand on the underside of her window and pokes his head through as Gwen moves back to make room for him, Peter's shoulders shrugging a bit. "Your doorman's intimidating."

His head is screaming how that is the stupidest excuse ever in the history of mankind and she must think he's an idiot but for some reason Gwen accepts this and just says "It's 20 stories." He makes a 'psh' sound with his lips and says "Yeah, it's alright." Like somehow a normal seventeen year old would find 20 stories nothing to sneeze at. 

Peter vaults over the little bookshelf under her window flawlessly and stands awkwardly, hands stuffed in his jacket pockets, turning slightly so his gaze could bounce off the walls of the room. "This is your room."

"Yes, this is my room."

"Books. Shoes." He turns back to her and Gwen's already laughing a bit because the situation is a little bit ridiculous in itself at that gives Peter the excuse for a rakish sort of grin to crawl across his face. "Oh hey, uh," Peter starts grinning wider and shrugs off his backpack, unzipping it easily "I got your Mom, uh, these…" and then he lets out a sigh as the bouquet sees the light of day between them.

 _Stupid webslinging_ is all he can think but Gwen's tickled pink by the thought and refuses to not let him see she appreciates it so she attempts to salvage the moment.

"Oh, love-lovely—"

"Yeah they're beautiful, right?"

"They're beautiful."

"They were, nice—"

"No, no they're beautiful."

Peter's blushing and he's smiling a bit too hard but his laugh lines are crinkling in a way she sort of loves to see and his eyes are shining like anything and when he says he's sorry and hides behind the damaged bundle of wildflowers she can't help saying "No, that's impressive. They actually held together really well." She wants to bundle him in her arms and tell him just how dang cute he is, because that one gesture has her heart in a puddle on the floor.

"I'm gonna keep these," Peter murmurs, the stupid smile still on his face, and stuffs them back into his backpack but then Gwen, being the totally brilliant, lovely person she is asks innocently "You have your suit in there?"

The world stops and Peter's heart stops and the smile starts to fall because _does she know_ and _how could she know_ and everything is just so wrong his heart starts to sink again because maybe all these years he's been the reading the connection wrong, wrong, _wrong_ and all he can manage to utter is "My suit?"

Gwen takes in his expression and misreads is but unknowingly saves herself by saying "Its for dinner. Are you, are you gonna wear that? That's um, that's-"

"Hey hon."

And both of them turn and Peter's mind is going _how did I forget that Captain Stacy was Gwen's dad_ and _the man is going to kill me I am in his daughters room with his daughter completely alone what must he think oh fuck—_ and the look on Captain Stacy's face is both one of a father assessing the boy his daughter brought home and of a policemen gauging the relevance of a potential threat. "You must be Peter."

"Dad this is, Peter." Gwen says a second too late, her eyes traveling to Peter's in a rather obvious _go shake his HAND you idiot_ way which Peter only picks up on because they read each other like the pages of a science textbook and he steps forward, hand outstretched.

"Hey, nice to meet you sir."

"Nice to meet you. Dinners ready. Hope you like branzino."

Peter grins somewhat warily. "Who doesn't?"

And then, as must inevitably follow with Parker luck, dinner was a complete and utter, awful and useless _DISASTER._


	6. in which there is very lovely kissing

Gwen proves just how good she is at summing up situations when she takes Peter with her to the roof and rolls her sweater up in her hands, bumping them together. "Well that was somethin'."

If evidence that they were meant for each other is any less overwhelming than it's already proved to be, that statement pretty much tells Peter of the fact that at this point, Gwen has become insanely fluent in Peter-Parker-ese. "I'm sorry, you know." He tries, staring at the bright lights of the city they both love. "You know I thought he was actually going to arrest me at one point?"

"Naw, I wouldn't have let him arrest you." They lean on the edge of the roof close but not close enough and all Gwen can do is study his face and absently wonder how it can look so beautiful in the moonlight.

Peter wobbles his legs and leans his body over the edge and then, by mutual and somehow unspoken agreement, they both turn to each other-

"What happened to your face-"

"I wanna tell you something-"

"Oh!" And their questions and speech patterns align and fall over each other in a way that's so Gwen and Peter that it almost physically makes Gwen's heart hurt but this is Peter and she's willing to head any way in this conversation he likes and honestly she'd love for him to tell her something oh god is she rambling she can't be rambling can she?—"Okay."

He sucks his bottom lip between his teeth for two seconds and gnaws on the corner of it for another, keeping his gaze somewhere between her grey-green eyes and her khaki boots, his mouth opening and closing a bit in such a way that a half formed memory of a playground and a bully forces itself to the forefront of her mind for a second, but then he is talking and he is all she can hear.

"I've been bitten." It's all Peter manages to get out but it's enough because Gwen's heart surges and her gaze flickers down to his lips and she moves almost imperceptibly closer.

"So have I." She says softly, heart beating faster.

Peter's eyes flicker up and lock with hers and he _gets_ what she meant and he guesses he meant what she thought he meant to but that wasn't his _original_ meaning and oh it's all muddled up now but a smile is still on his face when he starts talking again. "Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, I gotta tell you this one thing, I gotta tell you this one thing and it's, and it's about the, the vigilante and the car thief alright?"

"Oh…okay." Gwen pulls back because he didn't mean what she thought he meant but Peter moves forward with her because he needs that presence of her by him if he's even going to try to get this whole thing out in one speech—

"What?" he asks gently, eyes searching hers and he gives a little groan because honestly, double meanings are the devil and then he's saying "Nooo, no no don't, don't-"

"I don't wanna talk about that." Gwen tells him dazedly, eyes locked on his.

The leaning forward she's doing is distracting but Peter keeps talking, keeps pushing forward. "No, I'm not gonna talk about that, forget that, I won't talk about that, I gonna talk about, about me, okay?"

Gwen's so close now she can feel the heat from his skin but now she's a little bit worried about him and "What about you?" comes out both the right way and the wrong one because now he so frustrated with himself he could bang his head against a wall.

"It's impo—I wish I could just—" he licks his lips and presses them together and it's the Peter Parker Sign Language Show again and yes Gwen loves it but it's sort of getting in the way this time "I can't. It's hard to say."

"Just say it—"

"I dunno,"

"Say it."

And he's leaning over the edge and letting out a breath again and doesn't this boy know he's driving Gwen absolutely _stark raving crazy?_ "Why, what?" she tries again and he looks up at her, drinks her in for a moment, soaks in her beauty and the Gwen-ness that he may or may not be falling in love with and she says "What?" again to try to prompt him but he shakes his head because _can he tell her?_ Gwen's completely done with this shit and starts to walks away with a resigned "Fine, then forget it."

Luckily, on that cold rooftop with the girl of his dreams walking away from him, Peter gets hit with a flash of lightning and _he knows how to tell her._

He shoots a web at her bum and she hears it and feels it, but doesn't quite believe it until he's tugging and Gwen's twirling into him so fast the world is spinning or maybe that's just her heart beating out of her chest. Peter's hands are on her waist and she's got her arms pressed into his chest and she's absolutely speechless for all of two minutes because underneath it all, Peter is a _boy_ and the proximity is growing to be too much for him. Her eyes are bigger than the moon and they waver in their gaze a bit as Peter tries to get her head to stay still, his fingers going up to under her chin but his mind finally just goes _oh for God's sake_ and places his hand gently on the back of her neck, bringing her lips to his and—

_Oh, it was glorious. It was absolutely glorious and terrific and Gwen felt the warmth of the sun pour into her limbs and shine out through her skin, feeling stars in the way he touched her. His second hand came up and his thumb pressed cautiously, wonderingly on her cheek as they came back together but Gwen's had enough of this and she just has to say—_

"You're _Spider-Man_ —"

"Shut _up_ —"

_Peter's bringing them back together because he doesn't think he'll ever get used to or get tired of the way Gwen Stacy tastes and feels and her fingers on the lapels of his jacket, tugging for less space between them, is perfect to him and Gwen can't get over the feeling of his hands on her waist, hands so big they span her ribcage entirely and she feels cared for and safe, and sort of wonderfully loved but then—_

"Gwen…" Her MOTHER is here and she respects their privacy and realizes this is nothing to talk about right now but the moment is ruined. Peter pulls away from her and Gwen's knees feel like putty and her legs a puddle but Mrs. Stacy says "Your father wants you to come inside right away."

"Okay," Gwen answers, shaking her head and winding her sleeves in her hands because the passion of that kiss still has not left her system but her mother insists with a "Gwen!" and she mutters "I'm coming!" and walks towards the door, tipping a bit on her feet they look at each other, a brilliant half laugh escaping from her lips but Peter's head twitches and he's no longer focused on her anymore because something big is happening and Spider-Man is needed. Desperately. Once she gets inside the doorway she turns to look at him and watches with a heavy heart when he leaps over the side of the building like its nothing.

Gwen's in it now, and she knows it. She's in it just as bad as her mother is, possibly worse. _Gwen Stacy, you were supposed to be smart, weren't you? Falling in love with a superhero who has to fight supervillians and get super hurt—_ it's too late. She's in love with Peter, now. She knows he's Spider-Man, and she can accept that, she can get over that, she can work with that,—but Gwen knows how much stress she's going to through. How much he will worry her.

She chooses not to dwell on that for the moment and shakes her head, wrapping her arms around herself as she goes down the stairs, using the time it takes to get to her floor to think.

Gwen knows she's sort of doomed.

_But oh, that kiss and those hands and that boy…_

* * *

When Peter sees Gwen next he's all healed up from saving people from huge ugly dinosauric rip offs that apparently have personal vendetta's against motor vehicles.

Her father's issued a warrant for his arrest but he doesn't even care, snagging her hand after class at lunch and tugging her after him, ascending half the rows of benches to talk alone while the football team practices.

Peter's shifting, jittery in a way that he's more prone to since being bitten but his hands are warm when the press the occupied vial to Gwen. His fingers transfer the warmth even through Gwen gloves, making her shiver and her heart flutter. She holds the vial up to her eyes to see it clearly and says softly "It's so beautiful." The spider is gangly but elegant, and it's odd colors catch at the sunlight.

"Knows how to bite though," he returns easily, eyes flicking between her and the vial, grin lingering on his lips from the memories of the last time they were alone together.

"Who else knows about this?"

"Just," he gives a sort of laugh and looks away from her, a blush tingeing his cheeks "Just you."

"Just _me?"_ She repeats after him, disbelief in her tone followed by a breathy giggle, butterflies waving up all over in her stomach.

"Hey you don't," he looks away from her. "You don't believe what the, the police are saying, do you?" Peter's half worried that maybe she does and maybe they can't be what he really wants them to be and maybe she doesn't even look at him the same anymore but Gwen looks rather offended he'd even asked that and retorts with an "Of course not." The _doofus_ part heavily implied.

"Does it scare you?" She's searching his face with those eyes of hers again and Peter swears for the rest of his life he will never be able to lie to those eyes and he bites his lip, just thinking about it. "What you can do?"

"No." he thinks about it for a second, but its honestly how he feels. It is his power, he knows how to control it, and he's going to use it for good. Isn't that all there is to it? "No."

Gwen stays quiet for a moment, but then "What did that thing on the bridge look like?" surfaces and he realizes she's thinking like a scientist again which is pretty adorable if he does say so himself.

"It was real big, too big to be human."

"You gotta lay low." Gwen looking at him but there's something in her eyes that tells Peter she is genuinely afraid for him and some little part of him wonders if maybe staying away from her would've been better because she wouldn't have had to care this much, wouldn't have had to worry—but Peter stuffs it down easily and counters with an "I can't do that."

"You've got to. I mean, why—"

"Because of las-last night." Peter's brown eyes are boring into her own for once, willing her to understand. "Those people on the bridge. Whatever was attacking them woulda," he looks down for a second but when their gazes connect again Gwen can see the truth in his eyes. "Woulda killed them. So I gotta, I gotta go after him."

"That's not your job." Gwen murmurs, still searching his face as he memorizes the pattern her freckles make on her nose and cheeks.

"Well maybe it is." They're both quiet for a moment under the implication of that statement but Peter's quick to break it, nibbling on his bottom lip for a moment, a grin tugging at his face, turning to face her more. "I really liked kissing you." She puts her head down, sort of embarrassed with a matching doofus smile on her face and him saying "You're-you're an amazing, kisser." Just makes it worse.

"Well you know it was," She looks up at him with her mock serious face on and Peter literally cannot control the urge he gets to get closer to her. "It was good for me too." Is accompanied with a definitive head nod and he's saying "Yeah?" And all Gwen can get out is "mhm" because he is getting closer and honestly that makes it a little hard for her to think straight and their lips are a centimeter apart when a football comes flying towards her head and he catches it and tosses it away without thinking.

It distracts Gwen enough that she watches it go and then her mouth drops open because _it bent the goal and is still going_ and Peter can't blame her.

That was kind of a spectacular throw.

After Gwen is done gaping at Peter's strength, she leans forward to focus on kissing him again and he grins instinctively, bringing up his fingers to lay gently against her jaw to pull her closer and the kiss is just as fantastic as last time, though not as long as they would've liked.

_Freaking stupid bell._

_Interrupting stuff all the time._


	7. in which there are serious discussions

Gwen doesn't normally jump at most of the scares in horror movies but when Peter falls into her room she swears her stomachs dropped through the floor and her heart has stopped.

She's working on an English essay when she first hears the tap at the window and turns around, her hair a swirl of gold when she sees him leaning again her window in the suit, the mask off. Gwen laughs a little and says "Come in," turning back to her screen to save her progress and put in the correct folder. "You should maybe um, consider coming in through the lobby." She jokes and she can almost hear his smile from where she's sitting. "Also, my father is under the impression," Gwen turns away from the computer and gestures with a pen (extremely clear evidence that Peter is rubbing off on her) "That you require psychiatric attention."

Before he even gets out a gently worded "Really?" she can see in the lines of his face to the blood on his costume that's something's wrong and this is _Peter_ and _no one_ should be allowed to hurt him, _no. one._ but there he is bleeding on her carpet and she rushes to him as fast as humanly possible, worriedly saying "Peter? What happen-what happened?" Her hands on his shoulders and some of the spandex is slick with blood and his gloves are fisted in the edges of her robe, keeping her pulled to him.

Peter being Peter is dumb, despite the injuries, and cant resist saying something cheeky and stubborn. "You should see the other guy. The other guy, in this instance, being a giant mutant lizard." He falls into her chair and Gwen's instantly across from him, searching his chest with her eyes and hands, feeling her lungs constrain at the deep gouges in his velvet skin.

"Hey, Gwen? Honey do you want some cocoa, Howard, Howard's making some cocoa."

_jesus SHIT_

"Shhh!" she hisses to Peter (she hisses to _Spider-Man_ rather but when her boyfriend is crumples on her couch he's just her boyfriend) and surges out of the chair, Peter vaulting himself off of it in a different direction with a hiss of different origin.

"No, Dad, I do not want cocoa. Honestly, I'm seventeen years old!" The blonde presses herself into the doorway and prays to God her dad didn't decide to develop X-Ray eyes out of nowhere. And that he didn't sense the presence of the boy in his only daughters room.

"Okay I just," Captain Stacy gives a brief purse of his lips "I just remember someone saying last week that her fantasy was to live in a chocolate house."

Oh, _GOD._ Gwen is positive there is no possible way he could have embarrassed her more without even trying. "Well that's impractical!" She sputtered out, slamming the door. And then for good measure she opens it again—"And fattening!" before slamming it shut again.

Gwen turns around and Peter has the audacity to rest his chin on the arm of her chair, hair mussed, blood on his chin, and eyes sparkling just to say "Chocolate house?" She dignifies him with a _yeahhhhh oh shut up about it_ roll of the eyes and nodding of the head but opens the door again, knowing her father was no fool and wasn't going to take her erratic behavior for a suitable answer.

"Sorry Dad."

"It's good,"

"I just, I can't, I can't, um," Gwen swallows because lying is something she's never really _done_ to this scale before "I can't have cocoa right now because I'm wo-I'm, I'm doing this um," Her eyes close and she's pointing haphazardly at the door and the part of her mind not searching for a legitimate excuse is saying _of all times to exhibit your knowledge of Peter Parker sign language you choose NOW?_ But then the answer comes to her.

"I have uh, I have cramps!" Gwen's eyes fly open because _heyyy_ that could work!

Captain Stacy's eyes kind of widen and he makes to go back down the hallway because CRAMPS is a word no man in his right mind ever wants to hear. "Oh," he tries, but it's too late and Gwen's on a roll.

"I feel kind of pukey, and just, I don't know like emotional, like I keep crying… it's brutal." Gwen rolls her eyes for effect and anyone in the free world can tell all the Captain wants to do is get out of there. "You don't wanna know trust me, it's like, bad."

"Got it."

"Thanks Daddy." Gwen beams at him briefly and then she's slammed the door, quite certain she's just scarred her father for all eternity. She locks it behind her for extra measure, thankful not for the first time that her family believes in some measure of privacy.

Gwen's got Peter all set up on the floor and has successfully wiped off most of the blood that made its way onto his face and arms, focusing her main attention on the most grievous wounds on his torso. He pushes a keening, pained breath out of his mouth every time she touches them, no matter how gentle she is, but the look in his eyes are soft when he digs his fingers into the soft spot at the back of her skull to 'help' her put her hair up in a bun and the heat from his thighs at on her side seeps into her like a sunspot on a summer day.

She's lecturing herself even as she presses the now pinkish rag into his pecs because _goddamn_  her man is attractive. Gwen wishes for different circumstances wherein she's on top of him, preferable still sans his top and perhaps hers off as well, the new stickiness on his fingers dragging along her skin deliciously and the time to press her naked front into him. Peter, on the other hand, has got this look in his eyes even while she starts treating the biggest claw mark and she pulls back for a moment to allow him to deal with the pain, grey green eyes searching his brown ones. She sees it in his gaze and it brings a smile to the edge of her lips, especially when he leans forward, eyes bright, moving slowly almost as if he was afraid to break her. His lips are an inch away and warmth is flooding from the contact their noses back with each other so that Gwen lets out a breath and says tenderly "Easy, Bug Boy."

He lets out a surprised laugh but keeps trying to close the distance, murmuring "What'd you call me?" Peter's head follows Gwen like a lonely puppy as he keeps aiming for the kiss, murmuring things like "It's gonna be alright, I'm going to be okay," under his breath because he knew they were true, no matter how it looked now. His words trigger a memory from her childhood, her fathers arm in a cast and paleness in his face and her heart lurches.

"No," she tries, but her protest is met with a yes at every offering. "I know, what this is," Gwen tries again, dabbing at his wound again, fighting the tears trying to gather on her lashes. Peter stills because he recognizes this tone and as much as he wants to kiss her to pieces, Gwen is being serious and deserves his attention.

"What is it?"

"Every day for as long as I can remember my father," Gwen tries, voice breaking as the familiar rawness that precursors a few tears starts to catch in her throat. "Has put a badge on his chest and a gun to his hip and every day, for as long as I can remember…" She stares at Peter and trails her fingers through the back of his hair, begging him with his eyes to understand. "I haven't known if he was going to make it home." The last word gets stuck in her throat and Peter _gets it_ and he hates himself for this pain she's going through but he has a duty and an obligation to _do that duty_ and he ghosts his fingers on her chin and cups her cheeks in his hands and says "I got you." And her hand comes up and wraps around his wrist, needing that support, needing that guarantee, needing to feel him be there with her. "I got you, okay?"

"I gotta stop him though…because I created him." He tells her about the equation and what his fathers secret science has done to destroy the life of a man they both respected and they're silent for a moment because of course it would be the science that brought them together that would be trying to tear them apart.

"Peter…" she kisses his palm, his wrist, and Peter lets her, needing to feel her as much as she needs to feel him.

"Hey." Peter holds her for a few more moments, but drops his hands slowly, lifting her chin up between two of his knuckles. He's smiling again, just barely, and he says "Lets get out of here. Lets just get outta here," and him shaking his head so ridiculously brings the smile back to her face with a little laugh. "Just for a minute. Can we?" Peter nuzzles her and Gwen can feel her resistance fading already.

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Yeah, yes!"

"No! If my parents see me leaving, I'm dead." Peter lets that process for a moment but can't keep the idea from forming in his mind, still holding Gwen up with his hand.

"Your parents aren't going to see you leaving."

She connects the dots immediately but almost says no because he needs to heal, but then he reminds her of the whole accelerated healing deal and she relents. He pulls on his street clothes and Gwen puts on some regular ones and they stand out on her fire escape together, clothes and hair blowing in the wind. "Are you ready?" he whispers and she shakes her head, giving a laugh of absolute incredulity.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." Gwen tells him, but willingly wraps her arms around his waist. Peter puts his available, not web swinging arm around her and Gwen pauses for a moment, tilting down his chin to grant him the kiss he's been searching for.

Grinning like the cat who caught the canary, Peter leaps them off the edge of the building and whoops for a moment before falling silent as New York swung away beneath them.

Gwen may be terrified of the fact that Peter is Spider-Man, but she has to admit-

The perks are pretty great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this is all I've written so far. Does anyone think I should continue, or should I leave it where it is? Right before the movie goes to shit and Captain Stacy dies lol (it's been like 5 years in movie history so not really a spoiler don't yell at me). Any commentary is welcome!


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